LSU baseball team's bats are silenced again by Appalachian State

BATON ROUGE -- The damage worsened exponentially Sunday for No. 7 LSU, a day after getting blanked by Appalachian State at Alex Box Stadium. Junior Arby Fields' pinch-hit RBI triple in the ninth inning scored the Tigers' only run since Friday night in an 11-1 thrashing by Appalachian State, narrowly avoiding what would have been the first back-to-back scoreless performances for LSU against a non-conference opponent since losing 6-0 and 3-0 to Rice in the Super Regional in 2002.

"It was Murphy's Law for us today," Tigers Coach Paul Mainieri said. "Everything that could go wrong, went wrong, and that is in no way disrespectful to Appalachian State because quite frankly, they just really took it to us -- and they whipped us in every way possible."

The victory for the Mountaineers (4-2) secured their first three-game series win against a BCS opponent.

Appalachian State scored at least one run in each of the first four innings and scored its first four runs with two outs.

"It just seemed like when we were on offense the holes out there were small, and when they were up to bat the hole seemed big," Mainieri said.

LSU (5-2) threatened with runners on second and third base in the first inning but couldn't score, as sophomore center fielder JaCoby Jones grounded out to second. Jones' 0-for-3 performance dropped his batting average to .150.

Only two Tigers reached base between the second and eighth innings, and LSU mustered four total hits after getting three hits the night before.

"You sit there and think, 'Why? Why aren't we scoring?'" said junior first baseman Mason Katz, who reached base twice on walks. "We're hitting the balls hard, and things aren't falling, but that's the way baseball goes."

The Tigers entered the weekend series with a .333 team batting average and ended it with a .268 average.

"Obviously, we have a little bit of a confidence problem offensively," Mainieri said. "You start out and you're hitting balls hard but right at people, and they're kids. No matter how much you tell them keep your confidence and keep your belief, it snowballs."

Six Appalachian State players had at least two hits, led by designated hitter Daniel Kassouf's 3-for-4 performance, which provided plenty of support for junior pitcher Rob Marcello, who tossed 8 1/3 innings of nearly perfect ball.

LSU's run was charged to Marcello (2-0), who was responsible for Katz on first base before Fields delivered the Tigers' only extra-base hit off reliever David Port.

"Their kid was throwing strikes, and obviously we're not swinging the bats well -- and it just continued and continued," Mainieri said. "It was tough to take."

LSU used seven pitchers, including five who allowed at least one run. Mainieri said sophomore Nick Rumbelow, a closer candidate who allowed two runs in 1 1/3 innings Sunday, has been an enigma.

"I still have a lot of confidence in Nick, and I think he's going to be good, but it would be nice to see him have a clean inning once in a while, too," Mainieri said. "His command just hasn't been what it needs to be."

Sophomore pitcher Kurt McCune (1-1) got the loss in the shortest appearance of his career, allowing four runs, seven hits and two walks in three innings.

"I've got to make sure I work this week with my offspeed to make sure I can get it for strikes and get good bite on my curveball and slider," he said.

Appalachian State led 5-0 in the fourth inning and put any hopes of a late LSU comeback away by scoring two runs in each of the final three innings.

Junior right fielder Raph Rhymes said the weekend-series loss could serve as a wake-up call for the Tigers.

"I think facing adversity is good," Rhymes said. "I think it's good for the team. I'd rather face it now than later."